Natives used for publicity

Page 6

EDITORIAL

Is the Pope's visit secret? Are we being kept in the dark? It appears the answer is yes. Since the announcement of the Papal tour of Fort Simpson, the papal committee based in Ottawa has apparently "blanketed the area (NWT)" with information. Funny . . . neither we at Windspeaker nor the McKenzie Times, another Native newspaper based in Fort Simpson, have received any of the information.

Editor of the McKenzie Times, Joe Mecredi, in a hard-hitting editorial, says he was removed from a meeting because the papal committee is pandering to the "white southern-based" media, particularly CBC.

It seems that old black shadow ? bureaucracy is at work again. No one doubts that the Pope is genuinely interested in the Native people of the north, but it seems his lackeys are far more interested in getting "good publicity" to make the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church "look good."

The Native cause is a good publicity-getter. Anyone and everyone, wants to be seen supporting the cause, and the only way to get this 'good publicity' across is through the mainstream media. The coverage the Pope's visit would receive in the Native media is not important because we are a minority and only cater to the Native population. Consequently, Native reporters are kept in the dark, not invited to news conferences and are, in Mecredi's words "treated in a secondary manner."

It is a pity that the publicity-hungry flunkies in Ottawa have allowed this visit to degenerate into a public relations campaign instead of the deeply spiritual and moving ceremony of faith that it should be.

However, this shabby treatment of Native people does carry a message that we should not be so easily used by those who want to exploit our heritage and culture for "good coverage and color pictures" in the glossy magazines of the south.

Pope soap ? a lesson for Native leaders

The impending tour of North America by Pope John Paul II has brought with it the usual money-grabbing, so-called "entrepreneurs" ready to cash in on any and every event.

Suddenly we are regaled with buttons complete with photo saying "go ahead, bless my day," T-shirts festooned with "cowpope" and "Rome, Rome, on the range." Probably the tackiest invention is a lawn sprinkler called "Let Us Spray" made in the Pope's image.

But, maybe our leaders could learn a trick or two from these gimmicks and with all the new publicity, they could eventually gain self-government and Aboriginal rights. But, on the other hand, maybe a "Larry Desmeules soap-on-a-rope," Gregg Smith lawn sprinkler, and a Georges Erasmus button complete with "go on, give us our rights," might be a little hard to stomach.